Bob Miller, the hockey Hall of Fame broadcaster for the Kings, says there is no harder job than calling the action of an awful team, game after game, minute after endless minute.
Lawler has been doing that for the Clippers for 30 years, but the losses — 1,583 — have not defeated him.
Straight-backed and broad-shouldered, with a tan perfected by the desert sun at his La Quinta home, Lawler loves being the voice of the Clippers, who are 19-62 with one game left. Only his white hair and mustache hint at his age. Before a recent game, he walks around Staples Center with steps so long — he’s 6-foot-2 — that people have to run to catch up. He is looking forward to the next four hours because, he says, the Clippers still could win.
This season, a procession of visiting coaches delivered identical pregame bytes to the media prior to taking the court against the Clippers. “I told my guys that this is a talented NBA team they’re facing. The Clippers have a lot of guys who can play.” The 2008-09 Clippers’ team managed to sell expectations of its talent until the final days of the season. They’ve existed in a platonic force field ruled by the idea that the design could work, if only… That dynamic generates a powerful intensity that’s hard to let go of. Most 60-loss teams don’t achieve spectacular failure, they just lose lots of games. The 08-09 Clippers are one of the exceptions, and they’ve made for an ugly, but captivating, subject. Call it Stockholm Syndrome, but over the past few days, I’ve been hit by a strange pang of sadness at the thought that, after Wednesday, we won’t see the 08-09 Clippers ever again.
As much as Utah wants to improve their playoff position tonight, they’re more intent on shaking the funk that’s been afflicting them the last couple of weeks. They use the Clippers to run a full-contact practice, honing their array of low screens, and flex cuts. The game is never in much doubt after the first quarter, but it isn’t without some stylish flourishes:
Deron Williams, Professional Point Guard [2nd, 0:05]: The Jazz collect a Clippers’ miss and have to push it coast-to-coast in fewer than five seconds. As Deron Williams barrels his way to half court with his right — Steve Novak backpedaling in front of him — Williams pins Novak’s arm with his left wing, then flails toward ths sideline, heaving the ball downcourt. Novak draws the whistle. What’s brilliant about Williams’ maneuver is the heave downcourt. With :02.1 second remaining, even if the whistle doesn’t come and Clippers run down the ball, they can’t possibly score. Instead, Williams goes to the line for two FTAs.
It’s hard to discuss Williams as a ballplayer in any but the most abstract terms. You can’t talk about explosiveness or his lethal jumper. The assets in Williams’ game are more cerebral. They’re about his timing of passes, knowing when space is about to open up on the floor, being 1.8 seconds ahead of everyone else on the floor in a halfcourt set. They’re about plays like the one above. Williams probably won’t have much of an opportunity this spring to reacquaint people with his talents, and that’s our loss.
DeAndre Jordan, Curiosity [4th, 5:18]: Jordan produces the highlight of the evening, if not for igniting his one-man break, then for provoking a sound from Ralph Lawler that I’ve never quite heard before, but one that I hope somebody will document for posterity on YouTube. Jordan tips an entry pass from Williams to Carlos Boozer away from the post. There’s a scrum for the ball, which bounces high toward halfcourt. Virtual jump ball. Jordan comes down with it in the open court, takes a single dribble with his left, launches from his pivot just off the right elbow, sidesteps Kyle Korver, then throws it down with a two-handed slam. “LOOK AT THAT! LOOK AT THAT! WHO WAS THAT?! WHO WAS THAT?!” Lawler squeals.
Brevin Knight, World-Beater [2nd, 10:05]: That’s probably overstating things, but the Jazz control the tip in a Brevin Knight-DeAndre Jordan jump ball. I’d be curious to know how many jump balls in NBA history have been won by players shorter than 6′ 0″ against players 7′ 0″ and taller.
Davis/Kaman S/R, Novelty Act [1st, 7:40]: When you conceive of the Clippers in that platonic force field, they’re executing stuff like this every trip downcourt. Basic slip screen on the left side. Mehmet Okur and Wiliams run a trap at Baron, and he heaves a pass between the two defenders that hits a rolling Kaman. One dribble, no hesitation, perfect footwork, easy layup. I realize that most teams aren’t going to trap Baron Davis off a high screen if he puts up 1-13 nights from the field, but Davis and Kaman are two guys who should be able to generate a proficient two-man game, especially if they have a deadly 2 somewhere on the perimeter to space the floor.
Eric Gordon, Patenting Finishes [2nd, 1:53]: From the left corner, Gordon swings around a stagger screen along the arc [first Kaman, then Camby]. Fred Jones hits Gordon in stride with a bounce pass at the right elbow. Kyle Korver does a nice job running through the roadblocks to stay close to Gordon, and for an instant he catches up and gets between Gordon and the basket. Eric is too strong. As Korver challenges him, Eric draws the contact while elevating for the lay-in. It’s a finish we’re getting to know pretty well: Eric drives down the right side of the lane. As he raises his right shoulder to deliver the ball from his right hand into the hoop, Eric twirls counterclockwise about 110 degrees, so he’s facing the court as lands on the baseline. The ball kisses off the glass and falls through the net.
For reference, you can see the same finish from his 41-point game against OKC at the 0:12 mark:
Imagine it’s Spring 2008. You’re a 22-year-old basketball cautionary tale. A year earlier, you were booted off your college squad for disciplinary reasons. You managed to put together a solid campaign for the Idaho Stampede of the D-Leaguer, but Boise is still a long way from the L. In transit to Des Moines in the dead of winter, you’re delayed in the Denver airport. In a crowded gate area, you find an isolated corner where you plug in your mp3 player and close your eyes. It’s a Fletch/Chick Hearn moment. You conjure up your dream sequence, in which a venerable NBA announcer waxes poetic about your humongous contributions to you pro squad.
If you’re really stretching your imagination, wouldn’t the script sound something like this?
[Over highlight footage of freaky crossovers, ungodly floaters, whirling spin moves, etc...]
How about rookie sensation Mike Taylor?! He just blew up on that road trip. Went wild in New York, scoring 35 points in his first visit to Madison Square Garden. The Clippers scored a wild 140 to 135 overtime win. He started and scored 23 points two nights later against Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs. And then he was slowed just a bit after knocking knees with big Yao Ming the next time, but still scored in double-figures against the Houston Rockets. A whirlwind week for young Mike Taylor. Just look at the numbers [accompanying graphic on screen]: In three games, almost 34 minutes a game, he averaged 23, made 66 percent of his shots. It was truly enough to get the attention of his coach.
That’s how Ralph Lawler introduced Mike Taylor last night in the opening segment of the Clippers pregame broadcast.
First off, tremendous thanks to D.J. Foster for holding down the fort this weekend.
The Associated Press’ Jeff Latzke has a profile of Shaun Livingston, making his way back with the Tulsa 66ers: “Livingston has no intention of ever watching the replay of that fateful night, believing that doing so would do nothing to help him make the kind of plays he’s making now. At times, he looks like the same Livingston as before — his white socks pulled up to the knees of his toothpick-thin legs — except now there’s a black brace on his left knee and his stringy dreadlocks have been replaced by a close-cut hairdo. On Saturday night, he had the blow-by for a dunk in the first quarter and another dunk in the third quarter — the first time he’d had two dunks in a game since he started playing again. He also had a behind-the-back assist on a basket by D.J. White and a nifty handoff after getting into the lane and jumping to fake a shot. And he can still find his way through a crowd to get to the hoop in transition.”
Inside Hoops has an interview with Ralph Lawler. The highlight of his broadcasting career with the Clippers? “Without question, it goes back to 1992. Larry Brown was the ballclub’s coach and in the middle of the playoffs against the Utah Jazz, LA was hit with the Rodney King riots and shut down the city for four days, postponed the playoffs and the Jazz were kind of stranded in Los Angeles. They couldn’t even get home, curfew at night and they finally revived the series, moved the game to Anaheim, which is about 40 miles south of LA. On a Sunday afternoon, all of a sudden a cloud lifted over the city. People could go out and have fun and the Clippers defeated the Jazz in an exciting game and forced the fifth and final game of the playoffs the following day in Salt Lake City.”
